Seven cargo ships were struck near NATO members Romania and Bulgaria in October, according to Reuters. Three days after NATO said it would deploy maritime patrol aircraft, radars and drones to strengthen its eastern flank in the Black Sea, another ship was hit just outside Romanian waters. Last week a Greek container ship was sunk by naval drones in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone.
Many of the vessels hit in October were anchored near, or sailing to or from, a Romanian canal that Ukraine uses for its exports. One was in Romanian territorial waters and the other eight in Romania’s or Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zones. Hundreds of ships have been damaged in the Russia-Ukraine maritime war this year, and the conflict has restricted shipping flows and raised fears of a food crisis.
